Concertgoers
by Author0fntent
Summary: A year after the the defeat of the Angels and SEELE, four of the now-former pilots and their respective significant others meet up for a night of fun and music. One-shot follow-up to "NERV Gets Juiced".


**August 17th, 2016, Tokyo-3**

Shinji, Asuka and Rei sat quietly and watched the scenery go by as the train they were riding sped on towards their destination. The setting sun lent a nice bit of color to their journey to the Budokan, located in Tokyo-2 in Chiyoda. It was certainly going to be quite the night for them and the friends they were meeting there, considering it was going to be the first concert they ever attended together. Their attire stood out from among most of the other riders in small ways.

Shinji was wearing a purple Hawaiian shirt with green palm trees and orange-yellow surfboards, while Asuka, resting on his shoulder, wore a t-shirt with the logo for _Jurassic Park_...and in bold lettering above it, "**I WAS EATEN ALIVE AT**". (On the back read "**And all I got was this lousy t-shirt.**") Rei wore a t-shirt that poked fun at the typical cover for Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, though within the white circle in blue letters it said "**I Hate These Word Crimes**". Of the three of them, Rei was the one beaming the most with excitement, something nobody ever thought they'd see if they'd known her the previous year. She'd definitely come a long way from the living tool that Gendo Ikari had crafted. Upon noticing his sister's expression, Shinji thought back to the events leading up to their train ride...

Three weeks ago, Rei had been web-surfing on her tablet in her bedroom when something she read made her eyes go wide and a big grin appear on her face. Her bolting out of the room immediately got the attention of both Shinji and their mother, Yui, both of whom were surprised. When she settled down a bit to explain why, she showed the two the item she was reading on her tablet: an announcement for an upcoming concert at the Budokan, and more specifically who the headliner was. Upon seeing it, to Shinji's astonishment a similar reaction erupted from Yui, who joined Rei in squealing in excitement. Yui got up from the table and quickly ran to her bedroom's closet to fish something out of the personal effects she'd retrieved from storage last year, when her long imprisonment within the core of Evangelion Unit-01 ended miraculously. She soon came back holding an old t-shirt of hers, from when she had gone to see the same artist back in 1996 during the tour promoting his then-new album. As soon as she convinced Shinji to join in on going, Rei then quickly logged into Ticketmaster and bought tickets for the two of them-and for Asuka and some of their other friends, quickly emailing each of them with a ticket confirmation attached. (It certainly helped that Rei, along with the other pilots, had gotten a pretty decent stipend for their service in defeating the Angels last year.) Rei then quickly went to a website specializing in novelty t-shirts, ordering a specific one each for Asuka, Hikari and Mana. Her only instructions pertaining to Shinji, Toji and Kensuke were they had to wear a Hawaiian shirt to the event. While Yui would've liked to go, she had an event that she and Asuka's mother Kyoko had to attend along with a few other soon-to-be-former NERV staff that same night. Her two children did promise to bring her back something from the show, which made her smile.

Eventually, Shinji was brought out of his reverie when Asuka nudged him, indicating the train had arrived. The three former EVA pilots disembarked and left the platform, eventually arriving at a plaza near the Budokan, where they'd wait for their friends to meet them.

"I still can't believe you talked me into this," Asuka said.

"What's so hard to believe?" Rei asked in turn. "I told you it'd be fun! Everyone says his shows are always great. My mom can attest to it."

"Also, last I checked, you're not one to turn down a free ticket," Shinji reminded his girlfriend.

"_Depending_ on what the ticket's for," Asuka re-emphasized. "But yeah, I did look at the online chatter, so I get he's a big deal." A thoughtful grin then appeared on her face. "Heh, now I'm starting to remember the way that Kaworu guy got sent packing when he broke into Terminal Dogma. Your 'partner' did one hell of an imitation."

"Well, now you get to see the real thing," Rei said in turn, "and it's so totally worth it. You'll see. Trust me."

At that moment, the rest of their friends showed up. Toji wore a black Hawaiian shirt with red lobsters all over it; Hikari, hanging on his arm, wore a t-shirt with "**Harvey the Wonder Hamster**" printed in big letters, and a picture of a hamster running on its wheel below them. Kensuke's Hawaiian shirt was yellow with blue sailboats and hula girls, while Mana wore a t-shirt depicting a guy in a red track suit, the words "**It's All About the Pentiums**" boldly printed on a banner below him.

"I still can't believe you got these for us," Mana mused as she noticed Asuka's t-shirt.

"I wanted us to blend in a bit more," Rei said. "Besides, Hikari seems to like hers."

"THAT is definitely true," Hikari attested as she showed it off. "Sooo cute!"

"The t-shirts I get," Toji said. "But why are us guys wearing Hawaiian shirts?"

"Follow me to the arena, and you'll see why," Rei answered as she started towards the Budokan. By the time they arrived, their tickets securely in their pockets, Toji had gotten his answer when he and the others got a good look at the crowd filing inside.

"WOW," Kensuke marveled. "I've never seen so many Hawaiian shirts in my life..."

"Well, the Hawaiian shirt's as synonymous with him as KISS and their makeup..." Shinji said.

"Or Judas Priest and leather," Asuka added.

"Bjork and swan dresses," Hikari added third.

"Right, right, we get it," Mana said.

"What're we waiting for then?" Rei beamed gleefully. "Let's get going! We got good seats, and I don't want any sneaks getting any funny ideas-that's strictly my department!"

With that the group of seven friends made their way into the Budokan's entrance. On a big sign outside the venue was an enlarged 'virgin' image of the cover of the headliner's new album. It showed a man with long, curly brown hair behind the wheel of a car freaking out at the sight of a wide-eyed, cartoony bird that had just slammed into the windshield. Below the image, the following was displayed on the marquee:

**"Weird Al" Yankovic**

**Bird Impact! **

**World Tour**

**2016**

**END.**

****Author's Note(s)****

**Took a page from Panther2G and decided to do a one-shot follow-up to my crossover story "NERV Gets Juiced". Shinji and Toji's Hawaiian shirts are meant to be colored like their old EVAs. I picked the date because that was the date that I saw "Weird Al" in concert last year, for his "Strings Attached" tour.**


End file.
